Elder and Sister Schmid Road trip - First Stop SEMARANG

The Semarang Family history is another memorable Family History Mission experience that shows very little can be considered "Coincidence" in the life of Missionaries.

The Presentation preparation ran into another, never expected problem. The Relief Society Room was picked for obvious reasons:  "Comfort Zone Extraordinaire."

The monitor was an ancient relic of sorts. Trying to fit "New Tech Stuff" to "Old tech-less Stuff". proved to be a challenge. One of the fulltime Elders offered to visit a near by "Toko-Tech" to see if there was a remedy. They ( always move in "tandem" never alone) came back with the solution. Just in time. The Presentation was to start in less than 5 minutes. Thank goodness almost nothing starts on time here. A room full of Leaders & Members of the Semarang Ward in attendance. I dwarfed standing next to he 6' something Elder Schofield, my translator. At times he must have thought: "Please make short stops & time-outs in English, so I can translate short sentences instead of scratching my head remembering all that was said in English. Tired but happily satisfied we performed the only dangerous feat, cross the incredibly busy street. We obviously made it. I am writing while still alive & kicking.

The next Day Saturday we took part of the day to visit an historic building: "The House with a thousand doors, called: Lawang Sewu. Check it out Online. Amazing. I took some 100 pictures with the Nikon camera. have to figure out how to transfer photos from the camera "card" to the Lap-Top. We returned to Church for some additional "1on1" Family History work. After,all missionaries were invited by Senior Missionary Couple, Elder & Sister Miller and  treated to some awesome food the next day Saturday at a walking distance restaurant. Satisfied went home after performing a "repeat" of the only very dangerous move of the day. Cross the busy street to our Hotel on the other side on Saturday night.  We're still alive folks.

Now this, Miracles & Tender Mercies happen folks. Getting up & ready to attend Ward Conference, we discussed if we'd bring the Lap-Top. Why carry the pretty heavy thing around when, most likely, no additional Private Family history work was to be done on Ward Conference. Also, the Family History room is equipped with two PCs & adequate WiFi.  Finally we concluded that our main objective of this visit was Family History work. So I added a pretty heavy lap-top in addition to my shoulder bag. Sure enough, not any sign of anyone requesting the use of it. After the Ward Conference & some usual picture taking, we were both ready to go back to the Hotel after saying good bye to our new friends. Then out of nowhere one of the 2 Semarang Ward Family History Consultants approached us with the following: "We have a member who has been trying unsuccessfully, numerous attempts for a long time to get access to his existing FamilyTree Online account.  His problem? He forgot both his ID & Password. We filled the small family History room & went to work. Sister Schmid suggested: "Is he here today?" Yes he is. Finally he was rounded up. Sister Schmid went to work trying a few "missionary tricks" she learned from Brother Peter Bushi in India. Nothing worked. Sister Schmid could have called Salt Lake City, but it was midnight over there. The Ward Secretary, for no other reason than being curious why there was such commotion the small room next to the Bishop's Office, came by: "What are y'all still doing here?" in perfect English. Since he frequently contacts LC with the same phone number. He tried. Both PCs refused to work E U R E K A . He asked for a Lap-Top. Yep, the one we just about did not bring. Next problem. He needed a "Gadget" to connect it with the Church :WiFi". No such luck. As a last resort, absolutely NOT knowing what I was talking about I  said: Stop, Wait"

I remembered that I bought a connection "gadget" last year when Brother Peter Bushi from India & Brother Ouh from Hong Kong visited Surabaya Cabang Dua & he used a little connector gadget to make things work then for a different problem. After that I, not knowing why, insisted on purchasing one of the same for no apparent reason. I have it among my collection of "Flash Drives" & such, stashed in a pocket of my shoulder bag. I produced it with: "Perhaps dumb, but we are with our back against the walls ( also literally) & held up "the Thing". Exhilaration. It was just what we needed. The connection was made. The Secretary convinced us that phoning the number "24/7" was an option he had used several times himself as Ward Secretary.The Online connection (with Mom's Lap-Top) miraculously worked now as well. The very friendly Lady at the other side of the world, at midnight, did not sound sleepy of groggy but very friendly & helpful, She made it work after the Brother Rudi identified himself. She reminded him his ID & issued a temporary Password. Bro. Rudi then changed his temporary into a new Password & this time wrote it down. Than the "bombshell", He is the Stake Patriarch. Miracles & Tender Mercies happen folks. Nothing about this encounter last Sunday was a coincidence. Lap-top, confronting us with an ID & password problem after many had gone home, the member still there, the secretary showing up, the "Blue gadget" in my bag. You name it. The Lord was smiling. We all were happy & relieved. Bro. Rudi looked at his Family-tree for the 1st time in many years. 4-Generations plus more for him and his Family. Emotions filled the room. Patriarch Rudi ( withhold his last name) hugged everyone. Including Sister Schmid & me: The "Blue Gadget Man." & Mom, "the lap-Top Lady.". 

We then performed the final dangerous move across the (not on Sunday) dangerous road. Now off to Medan in Northern Sumatra.

Elder & Sister Schmid.